Crate.



CRATE.-

APPLICATION FILED 050.12. 19Is.

1,242,430.- Patented ont. 9,1917.

INVENTOR wITANEssI-:s

WAH.

ATTORNEY L. M. FLEMING.

CRATE. A APPLICATION FILED D'C.12. 1916.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTO R N EY Y connected thus eliminating lall danger of.

and easily unfolded for use.

LAURA lVI. FLEMING, OF TONOPAH, NEVADA.

CRATE;

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LAURNMQFLEMING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tonopah, in the county Vof Nye and State of Nevada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to crates, and more particularly to a crate of the folding type.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a crate of the character stated of simple construction and operation which may be produced at relatively low cost. A further obj ect is to provide a crate in' which all of the parts of the crate are lpermanently losing any of these parts. A still further object is to provide a crate which can'be' quickly and easily folded so as to voccupy but very little space, and can be as quickly Further objects lwill appear' from the ydetailed description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a crate constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;

Fig. 8 is an end view;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially at the longitudinal center of the crate;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken at the transverse centerof the crate. Y f j Broadly stated, my crate comprises a bottom, and top and side frames pivotally secured thereto and to VeachV other so as to fold laterally and downwardly upon the bottom, in combination with partition members hingedly secured to the bottom so as to fold downward on to the same.

The bottom of the crate is formed from the sheet metal plate 1 at each end of which is secured a rectangular reinforcing strip 2. A transversely extending strip 3 is secured to the under face of plate 1 at the longitudinal center thereof. This strip is cut at each end and turned upward at right angles to provide an integral vertically extending tab 3a at each side of thecrate. Each of these tabs projects'through an vinwardly extending slot cut through the plate 1. Each side frame of the crate is composed of the' corner rectangular uprights 4, the interme-l diate rectangular upright 5, and the upper and lower strips 6 and 7, respectively, which l Specification of Letters Patent.Y

'Patented oet. a, ieiv.

Application filed December 12,1916. I Serial No. 136,489."

are riveted to the uprights 4 and 5. Each of the end uprights 4 has its 'transversely extending arm 4a pivotally secured to fthever# tical'arm 2l ofthe rectangular reinforcing strip 2,' as atl2ll- The transversely extendingarm 5a of the intermediatestandard is similarly secured to the tab 3a as at 9. By' this means each side of the crate is pivotallyvsecured to the bottom 'of the crate so asto be foldable inwardly and downwardly into parallelism with, and closely adjacent to, the bottom." By having the transversely extendingarms 4fL of the corner upriglits 4 positioned outside of the vertical arms 2a of the reinforcing strips 2, these lmembers vvwill t down snugly about the reinforcing strip, as indicated bythe broken line positionjof the parts -in Fig. 4ofl the drawing.

tioned with its'vertical arm 122L outside of the transversely extending arm 4av ofv the corner upright 4 and this arm 12a is pivotally secured to the arm 4a of the upright 4, as at 14. lThe ends of Vthe vertical arms 11'a of the intermediate bar 11" are pivotally secured to the transversely extending arms 5a of the intermediate uprights 5, as at 15. By lthis arrangement, the crate lmay be quickly and easily folded vby simply pushing it laterally so as to force one of the sides of the crate downward and inward, and the otherside downward vand outward, the top being also forced downward, these three parts of the -crate being-brought into parallelism'with, and closely adjacent to, the bottom plate 1. j In thisposition, the transversely extending arms 4a ofV the upriglits "of." This member comprises a frame 16 of suitable construction, the frame being formed preferably from sheet metal strips CIK which are riveted together. rllhis frame is of a length corresponding to the width of bottom plate 1 and is hingedly secured to the bottom plate at the longitudinal center thereof, by means of a plurality of suitably spaced hinges 17 securedto the bottom 16a-of frame 16 and tothe plate 1f. A similar frame 18 is hingedly securedzatits lower edge to the plate 1, adjacent each end thereof,`byineans of suitable hingesvlflsecured to the bottom plate 1 the horizontal arm ofthe ,end reinforcing strip 2, and to the bottoni bar 18n of frame 1 8. The frames l18 constitute the end frames ofthe crate, and all of the frames 16 and 18 may be revolved about their pivotal axes linto a yvertical positient@ into a rQSton approximately p21-1'- allel with, and Closely adjacent bath@ V100ttom plate 1,. 1n order to secure the `end frames and the central partition-member of the crate in vertical position, l prOYide a spring catch 20 for each end frame, and a similarcatch 21 for thecenter frame. The catch 2O is secured to the horizontal armrof the rectangular end bar 12 of the; top of the frame and extends downward into lsuch a position as tol engage in back of the top bar of frame 18, when the frame is raised. rllhe vertical arm of thiscatch extends through the horizontal arm of the end bar and is provided with an integral head-22 which enables the catch tobe raised into inoperative position thus permitting the end frame to vbe folded downward about its pivotal axis. The catch 21 for the center frame 15G is secured to t he.horizontal arm of thek center bar 11 of the. crate topiandis .extended through this bar being provided at its upper end with an integral head 2S.

To permit folding of theA crate by rotating one ofthe sides inward and downward, and the other side downward and1 outward, laterally, one end of the vertical arm 2u of the rectangular reinforcing end .strip 2 is roundedupward and inward as at 21?, the other end of thisstrip beingk of rectangular shape asat 2C. The upper ends of the transverselyv extending arms e, of the end upriofhts l of the side frames, and thetransvcrsely extending arms `5a of the intermediate uprights. or standards 5, are also rounded for 'a similar purpose. This, permits the side frames to be rotated ,or folded downwardr transversely of the crate in one direction only, thus preventing confusion and insuring accuracy of operation.

For. convenience in handling, a handle or bail 27 is pivotally secured to each offthe end frames 18 soas to, normally hang downward in a vertical position. These bails occupy a position vclosely adjacent the end frame 18 so that, when one of the frames 18 is folded inward andthe center frame 16 is folded downward over the same, these two Iframes are both below the upper edge of the vertical arms of the rectangular reinforcing strips 2, and the other end frame 18 kwhen folded downward is also below the upper'edgeiof the vertical arms of the reinforcing end strips. this arrangement, ,Whenthe wat@ yis folded-th@ Center and @11d frames are positioned within the cratev and do ,not :in any way increase .thespace occupied by the crate when in folded position.

'The for, side, and @ad frames, and the i11- termediate frame partition member, of thelcrate vare ycovered .with a vsuitable netting or wire, in the usual manner.y rlhis wire ,may be secured to the upright-sV and tvhefstripslof the various fraineszin any suitable meneer 'and Serves t0 provide miedosing netting-or fabricwhich ypreventsfthe escape of animals or poultry from'the crateo Whennot in use this crate may be quickly andeasily folded in the manner previously described and, in this' Ceditin; may be stored in avery sinallspace.Y `i

N hat l claimis:

.1H @Yates .the @Garantien ef a bottom plate, Vaf rectangular reinforcing strip 4securedto the` bottom plate at eachI end thereof, a central transversely extending strip'secured to the bottom plate. and providechat each end, with a vertically extending tab, a side frame composed ofi rectangular `uprights pivotally secured` at their lowery ends to a vertical arm ofthe rectangular reinforcing',endy strips andthe saidtabs, end strips riveted to thesaid uprights, altop frame composed of rectangular end bars and an intermediate rectangular bar `pivotally secured atrtheir ends to the upper ends of the transversely extending bars of theluprights of the side frames and reinforcing stripsriveted,thereto, end frames hingedly secured attheir lower edges tothe bottom plateadjacent each end thereof, yan intermediate frame hingedly secured at its lower edge to. the bottom plate at the longitudinal center thereof, and spring catches carried by the end and intermediate bars of the top frame adapted to engage the said eind and internfiediate frames so as to releasably secure the same in operative position.

ln testimony whereof l affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.,

LAURA M. FLEMING. .,l/Vitnesses EDITH B. Brown, ,SAMUEL HALL.

@92185;f-thisresrt.ser retained ,toners Casts @eee by eedrassesthe "Qonmssioner @meterte tlashinfirten,,ZD C. 

